As chef de cuisine for the Cosmopolitan, Gerald Chin oversees a multitude of restaurants ranging from the Henry and the Overlook Grill to the acclaimed Wicked Spoon buffet. With such a diversity of venues under his watch, Chin is exposed to a wide variety of food styles and trends—which makes his thoughts on dining that much more interesting.

Favorite dish at Cosmo: Overlook Grill’s fish tacos “I wanted a hard taco, but when I tried to make one, it would completely crumble,” says Chin, whose tacos combined hard and soft shells. “As basic as it is, I could eat them twice a day, every day.”

Most underrated cut of meat: top blade steak “It can be as tough as a jockey’s ballsack if it’s overcooked, but if you cook it properly, you can even take it up to medium. It’s tender and it’s flavorful, because it’s a shoulder cut. It has a ton of flavor, almost similar to a London Broil.”

Most memorable meal: Daniel in New York City “I had won a cooking competition in New York in 1998, so with the award money I took my dad and best friend to dinner at Daniel. I was just a kid, but I remember getting macaroni stuffed with morels and porcinis and a white truffle risotto. It was flawless. And then, I got the bill. It was $1,200. There went my winnings!”

Most memorable (recent) meal: Alinea in Chicago “The most impactful part of the meal was the service. I happened to get something on the cuff of a really expensive shirt, and I’m trying to rub it out, and out of nowhere a Shout Wipe dropped in front of me. Unbelievable.”